Bengaluru, 7 Oct

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the reservation percentage for Scheduled Tribes (ST) should be increased to include the Kuruba community as an ST.

Speaking at a Valmiki Jayanthi on Tuesday in Vidhana Soudha, Siddaramaiah added that the government under former BJP chief minister Basavaraj Bommai had recommended including the Kuruba as an ST community. 

“I was not the person who fought for providing ST tag to Kurubas. It was former minister KS Eshwarappa who recommended it during the Bommai government,” Siddaramaiah said. “When JH Patel was CM, he recommended to the central government to include several communities, including the Bestha, in the ST category.”

However, he noted that the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not included Kurubas in the ST list. “Even now there is no confidence that they will do it. But if they do it, let it be as per the population. It should be increased to 14 per cent or 20 per cent.”

He noted that in states such as Mizoram and Odisha, the reservation percentage was linked to the population.

“I fully support and agree that if the Kuruba community is included in the ST category, the ST reservation quota should be increased,” he said.

Siddaramaiah noted that he and former MP VS Ugrappa had pushed for including Valmikis as an ST community, which happened because of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda’s persuasion.

CABINET RESTUCTURING

In a statement Siddaramaiah said that when the Cabinet is restructured in the “coming days…. consideration will be given to providing representation”.

Noting that a lawyer had hurled his show at Chief Justice BR Gavai in the Supreme Court, Siddaramaiah said, “(Gavai) has personally forgiven the act of throwing a shoe at him. This reflects his great virtue. However, I strongly condemn such an act. There is a hand of Manuvaadis in this.”